I just stumbled onto this spectacular time-lapse video of the Chilean ALMA site skyline, where an entire night from the observatory’s high ground is fast forwarded. A regular starry night at the ALMA site. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an international partnership between Europe, North America, East Asia and the Republic of Chile to build the largest astronomical project in existence, and sits on top of the Chajnantor plateau at 5000 meters altitude in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Oh, and it’s no surprise or wonder to anyone anymore why they chose this exact site to invest more than $1 billion in the most ambitious ground-based telescope currently under construction.

Be sure to play the video at 720pp (HD) and watch it in full screen. Enjoy!